Yayın Geliş Tarihi: 20.12.2012
Yayına Kabul Tarihi: 06.09.2013
Online Yayın Tarihi: 20.03.2014
Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi
Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi
Cilt: 15, Sayı: 4, Yıl: 2013, Sayfa: 589-606
ISSN: 1302-3284
E-ISSN: 1308-0911
AN INVESTIGATION OF JOB AND CAREER COUNSELING
CANDIDATES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DIVERSITY
MANAGEMENT1
Serdar BOZKURT
Altan DOĞAN
Ayşegül KARAEMİNOĞULLARI
Abstract
In this current study we are examining individuals who are trained for job and
career counseling in terms of their ‘attitudes towards diversity’ ‘empathy skills’ and
‘potential for diversity management performance’. In this respect, the relationship between
the ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ of career counselors, who will be
working in the personnel selection and placement process, will be investigated.
Furthermore, the impact of ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ on ‘potential
for diversity management performance’ will be studied. The differentiating effect of gender
on ‘empathy skills’ of individuals who are trained for job and career counseling will also
be covered in the research context.
The research is conducted on 266 future job and career counselors. Results
reveals a positive relationship between ‘potential for diversity management performance’
and ‘empathy skills’ as well as between ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ of
trained counselors. Furthermore, results points out that ‘empathy skills’ and ‘attitudes
towards diversity’ significantly predicts ‘potential for diversity management performance’.
Additionally a significant gender difference is found to exist in terms of ‘empathy skills’ of
individuals.
Keywords: Diversity, Diversity Management, Diversity Management Performance,
Empathy Skills, Job and Career Counselors, Job and Career Counseling.
1
The earlier version of this study has been presented as a paper at the 3rd International
Conference on Business and Economic Research (12-13 March 2012, Conference Master
Resources, Bandung, Indonasia).

Yrd. Doç. Dr., Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, İşletme
Bölümü, [email protected]

Araş. Gör. Dr., İstanbul Üniversitesi, İşletme Fakültesi, İşletme Bölümü,
[email protected]

Araş. Gör. Dr., İstanbul Üniversitesi, İşletme Fakültesi, İşletme Bölümü,
[email protected]
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İŞ VE MESLEK DANIŞMANLIĞI ADAYLARININ FARKLILIK
YÖNETİMİ PERSPEKTİFİNDEN İNCELENMESİ2
Öz
Çalışmada, iş ve meslek danışmanlığı eğitimi almış kişilerin, işgücündeki
farklılıklara ilişkin tutumları, empati becerileri ve farklılıkların yönetimine yönelik
potansiyel performansları araştırılmaktadır. Personel seçimi ve yerleştirilmesi ile kariyer
danışmanlığı süreçlerinde çalışacak bireylerin, farklılıklara ilişkin tutumları ile empati
becerileri arasında ilişki olup olmadığı ve farklılıklara yönelik tutumları ile empati
becerilerinin, farklılıkların yönetimine yönelik potansiyel performanslarını etkileyip
etkilemediği bu doğrultuda incelenmektedir. İş ve meslek danışmanlığı eğitimi almış
kişilerin empati becerilerinin, cinsiyet değişkenine göre farklılık gösterip göstermediği de
araştırma kapsamında ele alınmaktadır.
Araştırma, gelecekte iş ve meslek danışmanı olacak 266 kişi üzerinde
gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, eğitim almış kişilerin empati becerileri ile
farklılıkların yönetimine yönelik potansiyel performansları arasında ve farklılıklara yönelik
tutumları ile empati becerileri arasında pozitif yönde ilişki bulunmuştur. Ayrıca bu kişilerin
empati becerileri ve farklılıklara yönelik tutumlarının, farklılıkların yönetimine yönelik
potansiyel performanslarının açıklayıcısı olduğu görülmüştür. Bunun yanı sıra cinsiyet
değişkeni açısından bireylerin, empati becerileri arasında farklılık olduğu belirlenmiştir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Farklılıklar, Farklılıkların Yönetimi, Farklılıkların Yönetimi
Performansı, Empati Becerileri, İş ve Meslek Danışmanları, İş ve Meslek Danışmanlığı.
INTRODUCTION
The strategic importance of human resource management has been
recognized in Turkey earlier by the private sector around the late 1980s whereas
relatively recently in the public sector around 2000s. Even though private and
public bodies nowadays have accelerated in devoting efforts to leverage the human
capital, the great majority of interest has been on the benefits of shareholders and
efficiency of organizations. An employee perspective has rather been disregarded.
Due to the typical conjuncture of a developing country with a relatively large and
young population, companies and human resources experts have regrettably had
the freedom of choice among extreme numbers of applicants who are even overqualified for open-positions. Predominantly, the importance of the psychological
and social aspects of person-organization fit has not been taken into consideration
sufficiently from an employee standpoint. In the case of Turkey where there is an
ongoing demand and supply imbalance of workforce, job and career counseling
stand out to play exceptionally a consequential role in guiding and supporting
individuals all through their career paths.
2
Bu çalışmanın bir önceki versiyonu, 3. Uluslararası İşletme ve Ekonomi Araştırmaları
Konferansı’nda (12-13 Mart 2012, Conference Master Resources, Bandung, Endonezya)
bildiri olarak sunulmuştur.
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Throughout the history of the Turkish Republic, career information
guidance and counseling services got the debate and consideration it deserves very
lately. Job and career counseling services are being carried out in Turkey through
integrated efforts of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and its affiliated
institution Turkish Employment Organization (İŞKUR), of Ministry of National
Education, of universities, trade unions, private sector, and of employer
associations (Akkök and Watts, 2003: 9). Among these cooperating units, Turkish
Employment Organization constitutes the focus of this research further to its recent
reorganization attempts.
The major responsibilities of İŞKUR are making national policy in order to
improve employment conditions and to prevent unemployment; providing career
information guidance and counseling services to students, to job seekers and to
employers; collecting, analyzing, interpreting data, and disseminating information
about labor force market both in local and national contexts; analyzing labor force
demand and supply; conducting career and vocational analysis; developing and
implementing vocational training programs either employment-guaranteed or not;
training and developing the currently employed workforce; implementing passive
labor force programs; coordinating unemployment insurance services; regulating
employment processes both in terms of employees and employers; regulating
private employment agencies; reviewing and following up the legal arrangements
and new agreements in an international extent including European Union
institutions and making the adjustments and integration attempts when necessary
(Law of Turkish Employment Organization, Act No. 4904, 2003).
In parallel with the above mentioned responsibilities of the organization
and in accordance with its mission, some promising interventions and practices,
even if not perfect enough, are being carried out under the structure of Turkish
Employment Organization, in order to construct human resources strategies
specific to Turkey, to develop employment policies and to integrate the current
employment policies with European Union social policy. The most recent
development about the institution is the fundamental change process that has taken
a start in 2011 due to new legal arrangements in the related law and in some of the
relevant decrees.
In accordance with the decree having the force of Law (Act No.665, put
into effect after its publication in the Official Gazette, dated 02.11.2011) on
modifying the Law and some decrees having the force of law on the organization
and functions of Ministry of Labor and Social Security, an extensive reorganization
is being implemented, covering all units for a better coordination between
representatives in the center offices and the provinces (İŞKUR, 2011a: 32). The
redevelopment is encompassing the process improvement as well. In this context, a
new position in the structure of the Turkish Employment Organization is
announced to have been created first time in the history of the organization. The
position was created in order to generate full employment positions for educated
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and qualified unemployed population. The declared number in the press to be
employed during the first recruitment process was two thousand as stated in the
official journal published by Turkish Employment Organization (İŞKUR, 2011b:
68). There was no consensus in other media reports and the number was fluctuating
between one thousand and four thousand. The two major prerequisites of the
promised new position were: being unemployed and successfully completing the
Job and Career Counseling Training Program designed and implemented by the
Turkish Employment Organization in coordination with agreed universities in all
over Turkey.
The Job and Career Counseling Training Program included courses
designed to provide the necessary theoretical background and practical adequacy
for participants to work as job and career counselors. The job description and job
specifications for job and career counseling, legal aspects of job and career
counseling, basic principles of and main processes in job and career counseling,
labor market and its dynamics, organizations responsible for employment issues,
vocational information sources, basics of laws and regulations on employment,
basics of job health and safety, education system in Turkey, basics of laws and
regulations on environmental issues, quality management system, foundations of
human resource management, personnel need analysis, recruitment process,
training and development need analysis, career management, public relations and
cooperation activities, the human and the psychology of unemployed, effective
interviewing, basic analysis techniques, basics of measurement and evaluation,
alternative tools for data gathering, techniques for job seeking, characteristics of an
attractive curriculum vitae, techniques of problem solving and decision making,
entrepreneurship, disadvantageous groups, job and career counseling for
disadvantageous groups, body language, impression management, presentation
techniques and practices, time management, planning techniques, effective
professional visits to educational institutions, effective professional visits to
organizations, and reporting constituted the basic courses in the structure of the
training program (Atay et al., 2011). The variety of courses aimed at training and
empowering the participants so as to gain the capability of overcoming a wide
range of activities on the job when they start working as job and career counselors.
Indeed job and career counseling necessitates the coordination of a broad
range of skills, abilities, and knowledge. Job and career counselors provide services
to a diversified group of individuals some of whom are employed, some are
unemployed, and some are students or future candidates of the labor force.
Moreover job and career counselors have to be able to collaborate with people of
all ages and personalities. (OECD, 2002).They need to be flexible in unexpected
and challenging conditions that may stem from the varied needs, expectations, and
psychological well-beings of their clients. Guiding all clients equally under any
condition apparently has its roots in a high level of awareness about diversity and
tolerance for differences.
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As mentioned before, the content of the Job and Career Counseling
Training Program included a section specific to disadvantageous groups. However,
covering the dynamics of disadvantageous groups (Mayer, 2003: 1-7) is necessary
but not sufficient in a training program of job and career counselors. Since
“…professional development and career planning is an area where discrimination
often occurs” (Shen et al., 2010: 2159), diversity is, in and of itself, a critical issue
to be covered in a job and career counseling training program for developing a
better understanding and realization of equity in serving to all clients. Authors
share the idea that a course design devoted to increasing the awareness of and
sensitivity to diversity among job and career counseling candidates is apparently
needed and would be perfectly complementary.
The pointed inadequacy of diversity module in the job and career
counseling training program has been initiative and has formed the foundation of
this current research. Throughout the study researchers investigated the level of
potentials of future job and career counselors’ potential for diversity management
performance, strength of their attitudes towards diversity, and the degree of their
empathy skills. After indicating the levels of these three variables, the probable
relationships among the constructs and the directions of the relationships are
examined.
DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS
Diversity
Diversity is a group characteristic which results from the aggregation of
varied clusters where the members of each cluster shares a common individual
characteristic and differentiates from the members of other clusters in terms of this
specific common characteristic. In other words, diversity is any composite of
themes attributed by similarities and differences (Ivancevich, 2010: 42). In parallel
with these definitions of diversity, workforce diversity refers to “… a mix of
people within a workforce who are considered to be, in some way, different from
those in the prevailing constituency.” (Schermerhorn et al., 2011: 45).
Simply put, diversity is the heterogeneity of a group composition whereas
the workforce diversity is the distinguishing “…similarities and differences among
the employees of organizations” (Moorhead and Griffin, 2010: 33). The
heterogeneity may stem from several factors such as gender, race, culture, sexual
orientation, age, physical capabilities, disability, ethnicity, national origin,
immigration status, social class, marital status, parental status, religion, political
association, ex-offenders, learning and communication styles, place of birth or
occupation, etc. (Cooke and Saini, 2010: 481).
The diversity issue is being referred to as a twofold phenomenon due to its
potential benefits and its prospective negative outcomes in organizational settings.
When categorization cognitions result in distant relationships, quality of the
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exchanges is influenced negatively among the dissimilar organization members
(Hopkins and Hopkins, 2002: 548). On the other hand high-quality exchanges
nourished in an atmosphere of tolerance, perspective sharing, knowledge transfer,
and collaboration is likely to create a fruitful diversity climate which has direct
positive influences on organizational outcomes (Bacharach et al., 2005: 620-621).
Diversity Management
Diversity management refers to a specific perspective in management,
which initially emerged in USA and gained popularity in other industrialized
countries through 1990s and 2000s (Repeckiene et al., 2011: 882). Diversity
management approach is far beyond being a merciful approach with an emphasis
on including marginalized groups in the workforce (Mills, 2011: 47). Diversity
management differentiates from alternative pluralistic approaches in that it heavily
relies on the notion that diversity is valuable for the higher performance of the
companies and it generates promises of market incentives (Richard and Andrevski,
2011; Richard, 2000: 165).
Diversity management, ideally, represents a set of actions and interventions
devoted to create a harmony out of dissimilarities in the workplace. This
management approach briefly, is an issue of performance level in accepting,
regarding and drawing upon certain differences and similarities in an organization
whereas effectively and consciously improving a management process which is
future focused, value conformed, strategic, and leans against communication (Keil
et al., 2007: 6). The main concern in diversity management is the creation of an
organizational climate characterized by an appreciation towards differences, by a
supportive work environment that provides equal opportunities to all employees,
and by an inclusive culture of positive and fair treatment of all (Noe et al., 2008:
319).
Empathy
Empathy is a concept which has gained popularity in a wide range of areas
in social sciences, including philosophy, aesthetics, psychology, clinical
psychology, cognitive neuroscience, ethics, developmental and social psychology,
phenomenology and hermeneutics (Coplan and Goldie, 2011: 9-10). The term is
first coined by Titchener (1909), who actually relied on an analogy with
“sympathy” while translating the German word “Einfuhlung” with an influence of
the Greek work “empatheia” in order to refer to the natural tendency of individuals,
to feel themselves into situations what they observe or imagine (Morrell, 2010: 46).
On contrary of the discrepancies and ambiguities in the literature on
empathy, researchers indicate substantial consistency in the definitions of the term
(Pavlovich and Krahnke, 2012: 132) as well as in the indicators in an individual
difference measure of empathy (Davis, 1980: 85).
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Empathy refers to a person’s ability “… to observe, know, and be sensitive
to another’s feelings and emotions.” (Ferguson et al., 2010: 1). It is considered as a
degree of cognitive and emotional openness to observe and realize another’s
perspective and to act accordingly. It is the ability which creates a bound between
individuals and others. The importance of empathy stems from the potential that
this ability provides individuals “… to understand the intentions of others, predict
their behavior, and experience an emotion triggered by their emotion.” (BaronCohen and Wheelwright, 2004: 163). It influences the efficiency of all social
interactions to a great extent.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study has been designed to investigate the levels of ‘potential for
diversity management performance’, ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy
skills’ among individuals who had successfully completed a job and career
counseling training program of İŞKUR. The relationship of two construct
‘potential for diversity management performance’ and ‘empathy skills’ will be
investigated as a further matter of interest. A complementary research question
with the previous is generated to investigate the relationship between ‘attitudes
towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’.
Whether the two variables ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy
skills’ have an effect on ‘potential for diversity management performance’. Further
the study will focus on revealing the effect of ‘attitudes towards diversity’ on
‘potential for diversity management performance’. In order to examine the
predictors of ‘potential for diversity management performance’ in detail, the
probable effects of ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ on the
construct will be analyzed as well. Whether ‘gender’ has a differentiating effect
among job and career counselors in terms of their ‘empathy skills’, will constitute
the final research question. The model is represented in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Theoretical Framework of the Research
+
Attitudes towards Diversity
+
Empathy Skills
+
Potential for Diversity Management
Performance
+
METHODOLOGY
Purpose of the Study, Research Rationale, and the Knowledge Need
In this current study we are examining individuals who are trained for job
and career consultancy in terms of their ‘attitudes towards diversity’. Thereby the
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focus of the study is to determine to what extent the counselors will be considering
diversity issues in their professional life where they will be consulting the
personnel responsible for personnel selection and placement, and career counseling
in governmental organizations. Another point that will be investigated within the
context of the research study is the relationship of ‘empathy skills’ with ‘potential
for diversity management performance’ and with ‘attitudes towards diversity’
among individuals who are trained for job and career consultancy. In order to
reveal the predictors of ‘potential for diversity management performance’, two
complementary research questions are generated. In this context, researchers will
first investigate the effect of ‘attitudes towards diversity’ on ‘potential for diversity
management performance’. Second, the model where two independent variables
are included will be analyzed. Therefore, the following research question will be
whether the ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ have an effect on
‘performance related to diversity’. Finally, the gender effects on levels of ‘empathy
skills’ will be investigated.
The main contribution of the study will be the identification of the factors
that should be considered in detail in diversity management at organizations.
Furthermore the study has the potential to be a valuable addition to the literature,
being one of the few researches in the area of diversity management in Turkish
organizations. Besides these, the research has its strength in its multidisciplinary
nature since it combines the effective tools and perspectives of human resource
management and organizational behavior research areas.
Sample and Data Collection Method
The target population of this research composed of individuals who are
candidates for working as job and career counselors in governmental organizations
in Turkey and who had a special training on this expertise. To reach a higher level
of generalizability, simple random sampling was adopted. In a simple random
sampling, all units in the target population have an equal chance of being selected
(Kalton, 1983: 8-9).
The complete list of the target population was derived by contacting the
local representatives of the governmental organization which was coordinating the
country-wide training program for job and career counseling. The target population
of the research is constituted of 2500 job and career counseling candidates. Survey
application was carried out both in hard-copy and on-line version in order to reach
a higher number of participants. Individuals who participated in the training
program in Istanbul were asked to fill in the hard-copy versions. On the other hand,
the participants of the training in other cities of Turkey were contacted via e-mails
including the related link for filling in the survey on-line.
Data collection process started in December 2011 and lasted in January
2012, taking 2 months in total. As a result of employing such a sampling
methodology, a total of 266 sample units have been derived out of the sampling
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frame. All the sampling units were candidates who have completed the job and
career counseling training program and are still in the recruitment process of a
governmental organization to work as job and career counselors in different offices
of the same organization in all around Turkey.
Measurement Rationale and the Introduction of the Measurement Tools
The data collection was carried out via a questionnaire composed of three
different scales and a question list. The three main constructs which build up the
theoretical framework of this research were measured by related scales. The
following Table 1 indicates the measures of the research variables employed in the
current study. The data needed to have a clearer understanding of the basic
characteristics of the sample, was collected by a composite of demographic
questions.
The first of the three scales is the one which measures ‘potential for
diversity management performance’. This scale is adapted from the Diversity
Management Skill Situational Judgement Test (Biga, 2007: 69). The three of the
researchers and a faculty, whose expertise is in Foreign Languages, collaborated
for the translation, retranslation, and reconstruction of items. The scale is
composed of 12 items just as in the original scale. Some sample items are “I am
considerate of coworker’s group differences when I work with them.”, “I find it
hard to take orders from managers of certain ethnic, religious, age, or gender
groups.”, and “I can communicate effectively with individuals from diverse
backgrounds.”.
The level of ‘empathy skills’ is measured by the Empathy Quotient Scale
which is originally developed based on the Empathizing-Systemizing Theory by
Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright (2004). Researchers employed the short and
Turkish version of the instrument which was adapted and tested in terms of
reliability and validity by Bora and Baysan (2009: 45-47). The original version of
the scale included 40 items tapping empathy and 20 filter items. For the ease of
application and as a precaution for reliability of the responses, the 22 item short
version of the scale was employed in the current study. The scale included items
such as “I can easily tell if someone else wants to enter a conversation.”, “I am
quick to spot when someone in a group is feeling awkward or uncomfortable.”, and
“I am good at predicting what someone will do.”.
The third and the final scale administered to participants was the tool for
measuring the ‘attitudes towards diversity’ among job and career counselors.
Counselor’s Attitudes towards Diversity Scale was developed by the researchers of
the current study. The scale was composed of 15 items. All items of the scale and
the results of the reliability and validity analysis are presented in Appendix. The
purpose of the scale was to examine the attitudes towards diversity issue in the
context of job and career counseling profession.
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Table 1: Measures of the Research Variables
Number
of Items
Source of Scale
Potential for Diversity Management
Performance
12
Biga (2007)
Empathy Skills
22
Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright (2004),
adapted by Bora and Baysan (2009)
Attitudes of Job and Career Counselors
towards Diversity
15
Authors of the Current Study
Socio-demographic Characteristics
3
Authors of the Current Study
Research Variables
Measurement
Format
5-points
Likert Scale
5-points
Likert Scale
7-points
Likert Scale
Multiple Response
Categories
Socio-demographic characteristics of the sample were examined via three
questions, asking the gender, marital status, and age of the participants.
FINDINGS & DISCUSSION
Reliability Analysis
In order to examine the reliability of the measurement instruments,
Cronbach alpha coefficient values are calculated for the scales of‘Potential for
Diversity Management Performance’, ‘Empathy Skills’, and ‘Attitudes of Job and
Career Counselors towards Diversity’ and were found to be 0.718, 0.886, and
0.908 respectively.
The coefficient value is considered an indicator of the internal consistency
of a scale or a subscale and as the alpha coefficient converges to 1, the intercorrelations among items of a scale or subscale approaches to unity (Zeller and
Carmines, 1980). The coefficient values of all the three scales employed in this
current study are above 0.70 which is the generally accepted cut-off point of
Cronbach alpha coefficient value in social sciences (Vaus, 2004: 127; Kalaycı et
al., 2005: 405).
Results of the Descriptive Statistical Analysis
The sampling framework is composed of 266 job and career counseling
candidates who have completed the job and career counseling training program run
by a governmental organization of Turkey in a country wide nature. The sociodemographic characteristics of the participants are presented in Table 2.
The males and females are almost equally represented in the sample. There
were 132 female and 130 male respondents which composed the 49.6% and 48.9%
of the total participants, respectively. The number of respondents who haven’t
replied the gender classification question was 4 individuals occupying 1.5% of the
complete sample.
Among the participants of the research study, the distribution of marital
status was higher for singles with a total of 197 single respondents (74.1%). On the
other hand, there were 64 married respondents which composed the 24.1% of the
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total respondents. 5 individuals (1.9%) have not responded the marital status
question.
Table 2: Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Research Participants
Variable
Gender
Marital Status
Age Groups
Categories
Male
Female
Bachelor
Married
20-25
26-30
31 or higher
Frequency
132
130
197
64
84
144
37
Percentage
49.6
48.9
74.1
24.1
31.6
54.1
13.9
The age was questioned in ordinal measurement level. Since most of the
population was composed of new joiners to the workforce, three categories were
presented in the age question. According to the responses, 84 (31.6%) of the
respondents were in the 20-25 year old range, 144 (54.1%) respondents were in the
26-30 year old range, and finally 37 (13.9%) respondents were in the range of 31
year old or higher. The age question was left blank by 1 (0.4%) of the participants.
The descriptive statistical analysis of the scale variables are presented in
Table 3. The means and standard deviations are calculated by referring to the total
scores of the scale items. The average total score of the ‘potential for diversity
management performance’ scale is 3.89 (SD=0.55) whereas it is 3.94 (SD=0.52)
for the ‘empathy skills’ scale. Results reveal that job and career consultancy
candidates have an orientation towards “slightly agree” as a response for ‘potential
for diversity management performance’ and ‘empathy skills’ scales, indicating a
positive but not very high level of mean points. However for the ‘attitudes of job
and career counselors towards diversity’ scale, respondents have the tendency to
report higher levels of agreement in general, leaning towards “agree” among the
response options. The average total score of participants in ‘attitudes of job and
career counselors towards diversity’ scale is 6.57 (SD=0.77).
One of the most interesting findings of the research is around the issue of
‘attitudes towards diversity’. When the ‘attitudes towards diversity’ scale is
analyzed item by item, the ‘sexual orientation’ item is found to have the minimum
average score with a mean value of 5,96 (SD=1,43). This finding reveals that
‘sexual orientation’ is the least tolerated characteristic among all diversity factors
from the perspective of future job and career counselors. A further investigation of
the result indicated that females and males significantly differ in terms of their
‘attitudes towards sexual orientation’. Females have an average of 6.17 (SD=1.19)
whereas males have an average of 5.73 (SD=1.63) for this specific item.
Depending on the t-test results, the mean value for the women is significantly
higher than the mean value for men (p=0.014 < 0.05, t=2.470).
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Table 3: Descriptive Statistical Analysis of the Scale Variables
Variable
Potential for Diversity Management Performance
Empathy Skills
Attitudes of Job and Career Counselors towards Diversity
N Mean Standard Deviation
266 3.89
0.55
265 3.94
0.52
265 6.57
0.77
Results of the Inferential Statistical Analysis
The first research question of this study was whether there was a
relationship between ‘potential for diversity management performance’ and
‘empathy skills’ of job and career consultancy candidates who had participated in a
training program on this expertise. To answer this question, the first pair of null
and alternative hypothesis is formulated. For the ease of reading and
understanding, only the alternative hypothesis will be presented all through this
section.
H1: There is a positive correlation between ‘potential for diversity
management performance’ levels and ‘empathy skills’ of individuals who were
trained on job and career consultancy.
In order to statistically verify the proposed relationship, the relevant data
was subjected to the correlation analysis. Results reveal that we would reject Ho
(that there is no correlation) in favor of H1 (that there is positive correlation) at the
1% level of significance. There is a positive average correlation (r=0.618, p<0.01)
between ‘potential for diversity management performance’ levels and ‘empathy
skills’ of individuals who were trained on job and career consultancy.
Concerning the second research question, the authors intended to
investigate whether the ‘potential for diversity management performance’ levels of
individuals who were trained on job and career consultancy are influenced by their
‘attitudes towards diversity’.
H2: The ‘attitudes towards diversity’ among individuals who were trained
on job and career consultancy have a positive effect on their levels of ‘potential for
diversity management performance’.
Table 4: Results of the Regression Analysis Where ‘Potential for Diversity
Management Performance’ is the Dependent Variable
Independent Variable
Attitudes towards Diversity
Beta
0.435
Model Summary
F Value
t
61.448
7.839
P
0.000
Regression analysis was employed in order to investigate the second
research question. Results indicate that ‘attitudes towards diversity’ significantly
predicts 18.9% of total variance of ‘potential for diversity management
performance’ levels of individuals who were trained on job and career consultancy
(r=0.435, R2=0.189, p<0.01). Table 4 displays the results of the regression analysis
for the second research hypothesis.
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In the third research question the focus was on the relationship between the
two concepts of ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’.
H3: There is a positive correlation between the level of ‘attitudes towards
diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ of individuals who were trained on job and career
consultancy.
Correlation analysis is employed for statistically testing the proposed
relationship. According to the results Ho (that there is no correlation) is rejected in
favour of H1 (that there is positive correlation) at the 1% level of significance.
There is a positive average correlation (r=0.392, p<0.01) between ‘attitudes
towards diversity’ levels and ‘empathy skills’ of individuals who were trained on
job and career consultancy.
The fourth research question was designed for indicating the probable
effects of ‘attitudes towards diversity’ and ‘empathy skills’ of future job and career
counselors on their levels of ‘potential for diversity management performance’.
H4: The ‘empathy skills’ and the ‘attitudes towards diversity’ of individuals
who were trained on job and career consultancy have a positive effect on their
levels of ‘potential for diversity management performance’.
Table 5: Results of the Regression Analysis with Two Independent
Variables Where ‘Potential for Diversity Management Performance’ is the
Dependent Variable
Independent Variable
Empathy Skills
Attitudes towards Diversity
Beta
0.558
0.163
Model Summary
F Change
t
163.337
4.502
20.266
10.438
P
0.000
0.000
Multiple regression analysis was used to test if the ‘empathy skills’ and the
‘attitudes towards diversity’ significantly predicted participants' ratings of
‘potential for diversity management performance’. The results of the regression
indicated the two predictors explained 42.2% of the variance (r=0.653, R2=0.426,
p<0.01). It was found that ‘empathy skills’ significantly predicted ‘potential for
diversity management performance’ (β=.558, p<0.01), as did ‘attitudes towards
diversity’ (β=.163, p<0.01).
In the final research question researchers focused on the gender issue to
reveal differences between male and female trainees of job and career consultancy,
if there are any, in terms of their ‘empathy skills’.
H5: The average level of ‘empathy skills’ do differ by gender among the
individuals who were trained on job and career consultancy.
The results of the t-test analysis revealed that females had significantly
higher levels of ‘empathy skills’ compared to males (p:0.03<0.05 and t:2,181)
when equal variances assumed. Average levels of ‘empathy skills’ for females was
4.02 (SD=0.45) whereas it is 3.87 (SD=0.56) for males.
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CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS
Interest in the issue of diversity is increasing exponentially both in the
academic arena and in business environment. The main stream of this interest in
studies of diversity is due to the potential of the concept to create the best
composition of individuals to maximize organizational performance. The highly
influential worldwide realities (such as the blurred geographical boundaries, the
increasing mobility of the workforce, the rapidly changing workforce profile with
an increase in the once minority groups, etc.) of the business life naturally
necessitate particular sensitivity to diversity. Management approaches as well as
human resource management strategies and practices need to be tailored to fit the
contemporary requirements of the workplace stemming from a diversified
workforce. Such a perspective shift may arise and create impressive results only if
the awareness about diversity can be increased among all employees through a
realization and acceptance of differences, through a better understanding of how to
create synergy out of diversity, and through a deeper insight into the pros and cons
of the concept. Qualified human resources management professionals, who have
high consciousness on diversity, play a key role in attaining harmony and success
out of variety.
Job and career counseling in the structure of Turkish Employment
Organization (İŞKUR), as well as other human resources management related
professions, has an exceptional peculiarity from a diversity standpoint. Their
critical role in handling diversity is multi-fold due to job and career counselors’
responsibilities towards their individual clients, towards their business clients, and
towards their own organizations. This research basically focused on the diversity
issues in terms of counselor-individual client relationships. A sample of individuals
who were unemployed at the time of the research application and who had
successfully completed the Job and Career Counseling Training Program of
Turkish Employment Organization was investigated in terms of their ‘attitudes
towards diversity’, ‘potential for diversity management performance’, and
‘empathy skills’. The research findings reveal that ‘empathy skills’ and ‘attitudes
towards diversity’ significantly predict ‘potential for diversity management
performance’ levels of future job and career counselors. Moreover results point out
that there is a significant effect for gender, with women having higher ‘empathy
skills’ than men. The item analysis bring out the results that ‘gender’ significantly
differentiates the attitudes related to ‘sexual orientation’, ‘physical characteristics’,
‘age’, ‘religion’, and ‘education level’, although with differing error margins.
This research is one of the few empirical studies in the Turkish context. As
an attempt for revealing the local characteristics of the perspectives towards
diversity issue, the study provides mighty and gainful findings. The study founds a
ground to explore the factors that affect ‘diversity management performance’ levels
of job and career counselors by providing an insight into the individual factors.
Further studies are needed to assess contextual factors affecting the ‘diversity
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management performance’ levels. Within this realm, researchers propose that an
investigation of ‘diversity management performances’ in terms of the effects of
‘training programs with an emphasis on diversity awareness’ through a before and
after research design; effects of ‘diversity climate’ through a peer pairing research
design; and effects of ‘industrial differences’ through a comparative research
design would be fruitful to contribute to an understanding of how to increase
diversity management performances of job and career counselors.
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APPENDIX: Results of the Validity Analysis of the ‘Attitudes of Job and
Career Counselors towards Diversity’ Scale
Scale Item
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their race.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their genders.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their ages.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their physical appearances.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their ethnic origins.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their religions.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their places of birth.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of the language they are speaking.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their sexual orientations.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their cultures.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their levels of education.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their physical disabilities.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their political views.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their marital status.
I equally respect and support my clients regardless of their national origins.
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Factor Scores of the
First Dimension
0.829
0.896
0.849
0.881
0.919
0.885
0.945
0.898
0.613
0.933
0.870
0.814
0.752
0.888
0.931